Flourish needed for Low light plants?

This is a discussion on Flourish needed for Low light plants? within the Beginner Planted Aquarium forums, part of the Beginner Freshwater Aquarium category; -->
Originally Posted by Byron
Yes, to both questions. A Life-Glo tube over your 10g will be sufficient for most plants.
Thanks bro..
Online they ...

Yes, to both questions. A Life-Glo tube over your 10g will be sufficient for most plants.

Thanks bro..

Online they seem to have Flourish cheap but you have to pay 9-10 bucks for shipping... Then if you find it at the store they charge double... The only LFS that have it around here only carry the 16 oz bottle for 17.99 but I talked her down to 15.00 out the door. So I might just go with that, my plants are dying here lol

Also hoping they carry the Life-glo bulb so I can just knock two birds out with one stone. Hopefully these plants we'll start to take off after your advice.

Online they seem to have Flourish cheap but you have to pay 9-10 bucks for shipping... Then if you find it at the store they charge double... The only LFS that have it around here only carry the 16 oz bottle for 17.99 but I talked her down to 15.00 out the door. So I might just go with that, my plants are dying here lol

Also hoping they carry the Life-glo bulb so I can just knock two birds out with one stone. Hopefully these plants we'll start to take off after your advice.

The initial cost of Flourish Comp is high but when you compare it to how little you use, long-term it is very much cheaper than any other similar products. In a 10g, a 1/4 teaspoon once a week will probably do it. You have to find the balance with light, and sometimes that takes a bit of experimenting.

The initial cost of Flourish Comp is high but when you compare it to how little you use, long-term it is very much cheaper than any other similar products. In a 10g, a 1/4 teaspoon once a week will probably do it. You have to find the balance with light, and sometimes that takes a bit of experimenting.

1/4 a teaspoon a week thats it? Hopefully that Flourish dont expire quick, that 16 oz gonna last me like a year if not more lol

Yea, thats what I noticed with plants. Its all about balance. If lights go on at 9 am and off at 6pm... then everyday do the same time just like if it were an actual sun. I hear its good to invest into a timer when growing plants, helps keep the balance.

So how long would you recommend I keep lights on? 9-10 hours? Dont wanna get an algae breakout.

I wanna get my plants bright green like you got in your Amazon 90 gallon tank, thats some great work you got there. Can tell you been doing this for a while.

1/4 a teaspoon a week thats it? Hopefully that Flourish dont expire quick, that 16 oz gonna last me like a year if not more lol

Yea, thats what I noticed with plants. Its all about balance. If lights go on at 9 am and off at 6pm... then everyday do the same time just like if it were an actual sun. I hear its good to invest into a timer when growing plants, helps keep the balance.

So how long would you recommend I keep lights on? 9-10 hours? Dont wanna get an algae breakout.

I wanna get my plants bright green like you got in your Amazon 90 gallon tank, thats some great work you got there. Can tell you been doing this for a while.

Flourish Comp is recommended to be dosed at 2.5 ml (which is 1/2 teaspoon) for each 30 gallons of tank water, and once or twice weekly. In my 115g I add 2 teaspoons the day following the water change, then 1.5 teaspoon 3 days later. I have very large swords which take a lot of nutrients, and very soft (no mineral) tap water. But with harder tap water you can often get by with once weekly. My 70g which has Flourite substrate is only dosed once, primarily for the floating plants.

It will not go bad, keep it refrigerated (they recommend this, so I do). I buy the 2 litre jug, and it tends to last me about a year with my 7 tanks. The larger the container, the less expensive of course, but given how long it will last you don't need 10 years supply.

I have had tank lights on 17 hours a day, down to my current 9 hours. It all depends upon the biological makeup of the individual aquarium. But light should be the limiting factor to plant growth, otherwise algae will take advantage of more light than the plants can use due to some nutrient deficiency. And on timers, that is good for the fish as well as the plants. Plants can manage with 6 hours minimum. If you have lights on for 9 hours and algae is not increasing [don't expect there to be none, that is not practical] things would likely be balanced; if algae increases, reduce the light down to 8 hours. And so on. And be careful in the summer when daylight is longer and brighter, this does have an impact.

Flourish Comp is recommended to be dosed at 2.5 ml (which is 1/2 teaspoon) for each 30 gallons of tank water, and once or twice weekly. In my 115g I add 2 teaspoons the day following the water change, then 1.5 teaspoon 3 days later. I have very large swords which take a lot of nutrients, and very soft (no mineral) tap water. But with harder tap water you can often get by with once weekly. My 70g which has Flourite substrate is only dosed once, primarily for the floating plants.

It will not go bad, keep it refrigerated (they recommend this, so I do). I buy the 2 litre jug, and it tends to last me about a year with my 7 tanks. The larger the container, the less expensive of course, but given how long it will last you don't need 10 years supply.

I have had tank lights on 17 hours a day, down to my current 9 hours. It all depends upon the biological makeup of the individual aquarium. But light should be the limiting factor to plant growth, otherwise algae will take advantage of more light than the plants can use due to some nutrient deficiency. And on timers, that is good for the fish as well as the plants. Plants can manage with 6 hours minimum. If you have lights on for 9 hours and algae is not increasing [don't expect there to be none, that is not practical] things would likely be balanced; if algae increases, reduce the light down to 8 hours. And so on. And be careful in the summer when daylight is longer and brighter, this does have an impact.